Monday, June 14, 2010

Larwyn's Linx: Obama to Congress -- Send Money!

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

Obama to Congress: Send Money: Patterico
Rancher shows video of armed Mexicans Invading America: WZ
Government by the Faculty Lounge: Hanson

Jerry Brown says Meg Whitman's Campaign is Nazi-like: RWN
Students instructed to chant Obama's name: GWP
Abolishing the Dept. of Education isn't extreme: WashExam

Economy

About Obama’s $50 Billion Bailout Request…: Nice Deb
Gulf Coast: another victim of Obama's union ties: Moonbattery
The World's Money Problem: AT

Psst: how much will you pay me to fill out forms?: RWN
White House turned down help from Britain and Netherlands: GWP
We need to save the same jobs again with $50B more!: Hot Air

Climate & Energy

Fuel America with Terrorist-tarred Oil Or Our Own, Baby?: Palin
This job, too, is beneath Obama: Steyn
The 'Green Energy' Fairy Tale: PJM

Media

Has the President Lost His Bearings?: PJM
Academia's latest propaganda factory, the 'Cry Wolf' project: WashExam
Whitewash versus Paint: Belmont Club

NYTs “Walter Duranty” Bureau Chief In Istanbul: Kesler
Daily Kos on Helen Thomas: Jews Back to Poland Just 'Human Nature': AmPower
President Officially Pushes for State Aid: FakeMSM

World

The Gaza Flotilla Ambush: What Did the White House Know?: AT (Lewis)
China’s Military Threatens America: ‘We Will Hurt You’: PJM
Iranian Official: Egypt Has Authorized Iranian Delegation to Enter Gaza: MEMRI

A Brave, New Turkey: Hanson
'We are totally unprepared': Noonan
Government Is The Same Everywhere: Slow, Stupid, And Incompetent: RWN

SciTech

PayPal: Outrageous Fortune: Belmont Club
Scale of the Universe: CBullitt
Planned Parenthood begins campaign requiring health insurers to hand out contraception: APP

Cornucopia

Empire State Building Refuses Lighting for Marine Corps Birthday, But Welcomed Muslim Holiday: Powers
The Tolerant Left Responds to the Helen Thomas Firing: Rabbi Live (NSFW)
An Army Travels on its Stomach: MoneyRunner

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: J.D. Hayworth for U.S. Senate in Arizona.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

'The magnitude and impact of this disaster will eclipse anything we have known in our life times'

At The Oil Drum, an ominous and desperate picture has emerged of the scenario playing out undersea in the Gulf.

I took some time to go into a bit of detail concerning the failure of Top Kill because this was a significant event... the system below the sea floor has serious failures of varying magnitude in the complicated chain, and it is breaking down and it will continue to.

What does this mean?

It means they will never cap the gusher after the wellhead. They cannot...the more they try and restrict the oil gushing out the bop?...the more it will transfer to the leaks below. Just like a leaky garden hose with a nozzle on it. When you open up the nozzle?...it doesn't leak so bad, you close the nozzle?...it leaks real bad...

...Contrary to what most of us would think as logical to stop the oil mess, actually opening up the gushing well and making it gush more became direction BP took after confirming that there was a leak. In fact if you note their actions, that should become clear. They have shifted from stopping or restricting the gusher to opening it up and catching it. This only makes sense if they want to relieve pressure at the leak hidden down below the seabed.....and that sort of leak is one of the most dangerous and potentially damaging kind of leak there could be. It is also inaccessible which compounds our problems. There is no way to stop that leak from above, all they can do is relieve the pressure on it and the only way to do that right now is to open up the nozzle above and gush more oil into the gulf and hopefully catch it, which they have done, they just neglected to tell us why, gee thanks.

A down hole leak is dangerous and damaging for several reasons.

This down hole leak will undermine the foundation of the seabed in and around the well area. It also weakens the only thing holding up the massive Blow Out Preventer's immense bulk of 450 tons. In fact?...we are beginning to [see] the results of the well's total integrity beginning to fail due to the undermining being caused by the leaking well bore.

...If you have been watching the live feed cams you may have noticed that some of the ROVs are using an inclinometer...and inclinometer is an instrument that measures "Incline" or tilt. The BOP is not supposed to be tilting...and after the riser clip off operation it has begun to...

...These are clear and present dangers to the battered subsea safety structure (bop and lmrp) which is the only loose cork on this well we have left. The immediate (first 1,000 feet) of well structure that remains is now also undoubtedly compromised. However.....as bad as that is?...it is far from the only possible problems with this very problematic well. There were ongoing troubles with the entire process during the drilling of this well. There were also many compr[om]ises made by BP IMO which may have resulted in an overall weakened structure of the entire well system all the way to the bottom plug which is over 12,000 feet deep. Problems with the cementing procedure which was done by Haliburton and was deemed as “was against our best practices.” by a Haliburton employee on April 1st weeks before the well blew out. There is much more and I won't go into detail right now concerning the lower end of the well and the troubles encountered during the whole creation of this well and earlier "Well control" situations that were rev[ea]led in various internal BP e-mails...

What is likely to happen now?

Well...none of what is likely to happen is good, in fact...it's about as bad as it gets. I am convinced the erosion and compromising of the entire system is accelerating and attacking more key structural areas of the well, the blow out preventer and surrounding strata holding it all up and together. This is evidenced by the tilt of the blow out preventer and the erosion which has exposed the well head connection. What eventually will happen is that the blow out preventer will literally tip over if they do not run supports to it as the currents push on it. I suspect they will run those supports as cables tied to anchors very soon, if they don't, they are inviting disaster that much sooner.

...All of these things lead to only one place, a fully wide open well bore directly to the oil deposit...after that, it goes into the realm of "the worst things you can think of" The well may come completely apart as the inner liners fail. There is still a very long drill string in the well, that could literally come flying out...as I said...all the worst things you can think of are a possibility, but the very least damaging outcome as bad as it is, is that we are stuck with a wide open gusher blowing out 150,000 barrels a day of raw oil or more. There isn't any "cap dome" or any other suck fixer device on earth that exists or could be built that will stop it from gushing out and doing more and more damage to the gulf. While at the same time also doing more damage to the well, making the chance of halting it with a kill from the bottom up less and less likely to work, which as it stands now?....is the only real chance we have left to stop it all.

It's a race now...a race to drill the relief wells and take our last chance at killing this monster before the whole weakened, wore out, blown out, leaking and failing system gives up it's last gasp in a horrific crescendo.

We are not even 2 months into it, barely half way by even optimistic estimates. The damage done by the leaked oil now is virtually immeasurable already and it will not get better, it can only get worse. No matter how much they can collect, there will still be thousands and thousands of gallons leaking out every minute, every hour of every day. We have 2 months left before the relief wells are even near in position and set up to take a kill shot and that is being optimistic as I said.

Over the next 2 months the mechanical situation also cannot improve, it can only get worse, getting better is an impossibility. While they may make some gains on collecting the leaked oil, the structural situation cannot heal itself. It will continue to erode and flow out more oil and eventually the inevitable collapse which cannot be stopped will happen. It is only a simple matter of who can "get there first"...us or the well.

We can only hope the race against that eventuality is one we can win, but my assessment I am sad to say is that we will not... The system will collapse or fail substantially before we reach the finish line ahead of the well and the worst is yet to come.

Sorry to bring you that news, I know it is grim, but that is the way I see it....I sincerely hope I am wrong.

We need to prepare for the possibility of this blow out sending more oil into the gulf per week then what we already have now, because that is what a collapse of the system will cause. All the collection efforts that have captured oil will be erased in short order. The magnitude of this disaster will increase exponentially by the time we can do anything to halt it and our odds of actually even being able to halt it will go down.

The magnitude and impact of this disaster will eclipse anything we have known in our life times if the worst or even near worst happens...

Not good.


The Inspiring Leadership of President Barack Milhaus Vanilli

I'm trying to determine whether the better analogy for our beloved President is Milli Vanilli -- or D-Day from Animal House.

"Daniel Simpson Day... has no grade point average. All courses incomplete."

Barack Oama told The Politico this morning that the Gulf oil spill was like 9-11.

Then he went golfing for 4 hours.

The Hill:

President Barack Obama spent four hours on the golf course Sunday in temperatures that peaked in the low 90s.

The White House pool reported that they left Andrews Air Force Base as it started to rain after 4 p.m.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was among the group golfing with Obama.

Fortunately, there are no truly pressing matters of state to which the President must attend. No nuclear terror states of note. No environmental disasters unfolding. No economic worries to speak of. No impending entitlement catastrophes.

Why only four hours of golf? Blame it on the rain.


Hat tip: Patterico.

The Obama Recovery Gathers Momentum: Social Security Cash Flow Goes Negative a Full Five Years Ahead of Projections

Say you're 55 years old -- or younger -- and have been paying into Social Security your entire working career. And say you were counting on Social Security to last long enough to pay for your basic necessities. Say, a thousand or two a month.

After all, you've paid tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending upon your income bracket, into the "Social Security Lock-box". Of course, Democrats lied about there being a lock-box, a trust fund or any other sort of separate account for your payments. They threw the positive cash flow into the Treasury's general fund and spent it.

And now, for the very first time, the cash flow for an entire six month period is negative. That's a full five years ahead of projections.

Social Security tax receipts for the first half of 2010: $346.9 billion; Social Security benefits payments for the same period: $347.3 billion. Before this year, projections have always been that Social Security wouldn’t cross that line into negative cash flow for five years or so. Now it’s a reality. Congress has been spending Social Security’s positive cash flow for years. Now there’s no positive cash flow to spend.

To see how the negative trend has accelerated, consider the same figures for the first half of 2009: Social Security tax receipts were $366.0 billion and Social Security benefits payments were $334.3 billion. A positive cash flow of $31.7 billion has disappeared in the course of just 12 months. Scary.

Say you're under 55 years old and you voted Democrat.

Don't you feel like smacking yourself in the head right now?

President George W. Bush tried to begin the necessary reformation of Social Security in 2005. He was absolutely shredded by the liberal media and Democrats -- but I repeat myself -- who used every fear tactic, every big lie imaginable to tell Seniors they were going to lose their monthly checks.

Well, I got news for you twisted freaks: everyone's going to lose their monthly checks because Social Security must be reformed or it will simply implode.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the Democrat Party has become a treasonous, poisonous passel of America-hating weasels. At best.

It's November or never, folks.


Obama-isms Throughout History [Bumped and Updated]

Newly updated and bumped! See below --- and try to contain your excitement!

Inspired by the brilliance of iOwnTheWorld's recent chapter entitled "The 'Obamazation' Of Our Presidential Heroes":

I created my own version:

The rest are here.

Add your own suggestions in the comments -- perhaps we'll create a whole series of collectible cards!

Update: Paul sends us this important addition to the collection:


Update II: It's on! iOwnTheWorld is mocking our fine readers here, threatening to open up a can of whoop-ass on us with new and improved quotes. C'mon, people!

Update III: Call Me Lennie gives us the idea:


Update IV: Simply Amazed with the brain-cramp:


Update V: Paul adds this instant classic:


Update VI: Bubba travels into the future:


Update VII: Paul may have our grand-prize winner:


Update VIII: Anon illustrates Lincoln and McClellan discussing the fallout of the first Battle of Bull Run.




Linked by: Curmudgeonly & Skeptical. Thanks!

Arizona Sheriff: Mexican Drug Cartels Now Control Parts Of Arizona

Bitter Queen alerts us to a KGUN News 9 report from Arizona that illustrates the deadly ramifications of open borders.

Two men are found in a remote part of pinal county shot to death. The Pinal County Sheriff believes the men were shot by fellow smugglers. Paul Babeu tells KGUN9 News this is just another example of drug violence spilling deep into Arizona.


It was just five weeks ago that deputy Louie Puroll was shot in a drug corridor in west Pinal County. On Sunday, more violence in the same area. Around 7:30 p.m. that night man calls 911 speaking Spanish. He says, "somebody shot me. While we were running."


Sheriff Paul Babeu believes the caller was smuggling drugs with the second victim.

"A competing cartel or other people stole their product from them and also killed them," Babeu said.


The sheriff admits the cartels are operating in his county and without the federal government's help they can't get control. KGUN 9 News asked Babeu flat out if cartels control parts of Arizona.

"Absolutely, they have in terms of the remote areas in the drug corridors in the desert here in west Pinal County. Our government has even erected signs warning citizens to beware this is a known drug corridor," Babeu said...



...Deputies found an automatic rifle near one of the men who was killed. The pair has yet to be identified but Babeu believes one of the men has been caught illegally in the United States at least seven times.

These are our genius federal bureaucrats at work: instead of erecting a fence, they put up signs warning American citizens to stay away -- implicitly tolerating the corridors that expedite the flow of drugs into the U.S.

And these are the very same sort of illegal aliens that President Obama has ordered authorities to handle with kid gloves in country-club like facilities: minimum security detention centers, dance classes, hanging plants, open Internet access and free phones among the benefits.

It's sheer, unmitigated insanity. It's November or never, folks.


Update: Don't forget to thank Democrats, John McCain and Lindsey "Goober" Graham for their failure to build a serious border fence.

Update II: Vanderleun offers us a photo of the signage that is somehow supposed to make up for the lack of a fence.

But don't worry, folks -- anyone who opposes Arizona's law is a Nazi-winger for wanting to prevent drug- and human-smuggling operations from taking over large swaths of U.S. territory.


Hat tip: Pat. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!


The Democrat Economic Death-Star Strikes Again: Deepwater Oil Rigs Moving to Brazil Thanks to the Obama Moratorium

You can kiss tens of thousands of jobs in the Gulf goodbye, probably permanently.

The economic destruction in the region is not due solely to the administration's inept handling of the Deepwater Horizon spill and cleanup. President Obama's ill-advised "moratorium" on offshore oil drilling is proving an economic disaster for the region and, indeed, the entire country.

Regarding the impact of the moratorium, experts have described several certain outcomes:

• "Tens of thousands will lose their jobs"
• U.S. oil production could fall by 160,000 barrels of oil per day in 2011
• The marginal cost of offshore drilling will increase by 10% due to new regulations

Reuters reports ("Brazil sees silver lining in BP spill: more rigs") that the shuttered deep-water oil rigs will soon move to areas off the Brazilian coast.

Brazil could benefit from the BP Gulf of Mexico spill as a U.S. moratorium on offshore drilling boosts available rigs for the country's deep water oil exploration program.

Even as an ecological catastrophe makes the future of U.S. offshore drilling less certain, Brazil is plowing ahead with a $220 billion five-year plan to tap oil fields even deeper than BP's (BP.L) ill-fated Gulf well, which is still leaking crude.

With an estimated 35 rigs idled in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil is already receiving inquiries from companies looking to move their rigs here, where vast discoveries in recent years may soon turn the country into a major crude exporter.

... "Since operators are shutting down at least temporarily in the U.S. Gulf, some companies are planning to move their rigs to Brazil now," he said, without offering details.

...Brazilian officials, including government leaders and Petrobras executives, have said Brazil has no intention of slowing its offshore development as a result of the spill.

This is the modern Democrat Party in action:

• Utterly bungling the spill and clean-up process? Check.

• Endangering national security by making us more dependent upon foreign oil? Check.

• Making oil needlessly more expensive for consumers and businesses? Check.

• Killing tens of thousands of jobs when we can least afford the losses? Check and mate.

The President appears completely unprepared to do anything but give speeches. That's what he's good at and that's what he always done throughout his career.

The Democrat-controlled Congress is populated with hardcore Leftists that seek the destruction of Capitalism. That can be the only rational explanation for tripling the national debt in only 18 months when the CBO and the head of the Federal Reserve keep warning that the spending trajectory is headed for fiscal disaster.

These two elements make an extremely dangerous combination for the American people. I call them the Economic Death-Star, a confluence of progressive stupidity and inexperience that risks everything America stands for.


Update: The Astute Bloggers connect the dots.

Linked by: Maggie's Notebook. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: "The exact opposite of leadership"

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

"The exact opposite of leadership": Pundette
A Dem Tradition: Try to Sound Like Republicans: RWN
President begs GOP for doc fix favor: RedState

It's come to this: Democrats talk about Social Security: RWN
Problem-solvers and Butt-Kickers: AT
CPUSA plans Dem comeback in November: NewZeal

Economy

The Bailout of Public Sector Unions Has Begun: Ace
Hey, let's send an SEIU hack to Congress!: LegalIns
Alinskys in Action: AmSpec

MEA protests private janitors while using them: BlogProf
No Teacher Left Behind: AT
50 unbelievable stats about the U.S. economy: EOTAD

Climate & Energy

Obama moratorium: Oil rigs moving to Brazil: GWP
Who's lying about the oil boom?: PJM
I am in Complete Control: BOsOilSpill

How Does a Rig 'Miss' 16 Inspections?: GrandRants
What is the Jones Act -- and why won't Obama waive it?: Greenroom
A Geopolitical Game-Changer: Haaretz

Media

         DISGUSTED         : R&R
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: a Work in Progress: Gates of Vienna
Obama Blames Folks For Things He Imagines They Would Say: RedState

A Wonderful Example of the Left’s Fascism at Chicagoland Radio and Media Message Board: RWN
Newsweek Compares Alvin Greene to Sarah Palin: C&S

World

Paralyzing American Power: AT
Middle East Studies Profs Lead Charge to Censure Israel: AT
The Free Gaza Movement and Hamas: AT

The Very Model of a Modern Major Generalist : Steyn
Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites: Times UK
How Pretty Israel Is - The Video: LegalIns

SciTech

Political parties lose control as Internet aids challengers: Times
Bill gives President unlimited Internet powers: CNet
Solar light bulb to shine on developing world: CNet

Cornucopia

Saturday Blonde Joke: Denny
Does England Have a 'Mudville'?: Gates of Vienna
Bravely Bold Sir Barry: Doswell


Images: iOwnTheWorld.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Please support J.D. Hayworth for U.S. Senate in Arizona.


Saturday, June 12, 2010

CAFE Standards Continue to Take Toll: Another 'Smart Car' Driver Dead

Aren't arbitrary government fuel efficiency regulations awesome?

ABC-15 in Phoenix reports that a deadly accident killed the driver of the high-speed golf cart known as a "Smart Car".

All lanes of a popular roadway out of the Valley have reopened after a deadly crash Friday... According to the Department of Public Safety, both directions of U.S. 93 were blocked due to a 3-vehicle crash that occurred just before noon Friday... [where] one person died at the scene.


Bailey said the accident happened at milepost 193 when a Toyota Camry, driven by 80-year-old Arthur Bridgeforth of Wickenburg, veered left of the center line striking a Smart Car traveling northbound head-on.

The driver of the Smart Car, 32-year-old Zane Horton of Glendale, died at the scene, Bailey said. A passenger in the vehicle, Jacqueline Horton, 34, suffered serious injuries and was air-lifted to a Valley hospital. Bailey said she is expected to be treated and released.

...A Ford F150 pickup truck with five people traveling behind the Smart Car was also involved in the crash. Bailey said two people in the vehicle suffered minor injuries and were not transported to the hospital for treatment.

Put simply, government's unconstitutional CAFE standards have claimed yet another victim, just one of 2000 deaths caused by "fuel efficiency" regulations annually.

If Americans -- I mean, Republicans -- can take back Congress in November, one of the first orders of business should be completely disbanding (or de-funding) the EPA.


Related: Death Trap: the Smart Car Story.

Most Transparent Administration Ever Closes Air Traffic Over Gulf Spill and Coastal Area to, uhm, Secure Safety of Cleanup Workers?

See updates, below

Late Wednesday night, the FAA created a "no-fly zone" over a large area in the Gulf in order to, uhm, secure the safety of cleanup workers or something.

No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM (except as described).

Pursuant to 14 CFR section 91.137(a)(1) temporary flight restrictions are in effect for deepwater horizon/mississippi canyon (mc252) incident cleanup and reconstitution operations an area bounded by: 290500n/0904000w or the leeville /lev/ vortac 258 degree radial at 30.1 NM to 300000n/0890000w or the gulfport /gpt/ vortac 169 degree radial at 24.7 NM to 300000n/0870000w or the crestview /cew/ vortac 196 degree radial at 52.2 NM to 280000n/0870000w or the panama city /pfn/ vortac 208 degree radial at 149.6 NM to 280000n/0904000w or the leeville /lev/ vortac 201 degree radial at 76.3 NM to the point of beginning at and below 3000 feet AGL excluding the airspace outside of 12 nautical miles from the us coastline. This area is also depicted on U.S. Gulf coast VFR aeronautical chart id helgc as an area bounded from south pelto 2/sp02 then to south pass 6/sp06 then to chandler 39/ch39 then to pensacola 984/pe984 then to desoto canyon 635/dc635 to south timbalair 242/st242 and then back to original point.


All aircraft operations are prohibited except those flights authorized by ATC, routine flights supporting offshore oil operations; federal, state, local and military flight operations supporting oil spill recovery and reconstitution efforts; and air medical and law enforcement operations.

While there might be low-level aircraft in the area (say, operating at 2,500 feet or lower) spraying dispersal agents, it would seem quite odd to ban all flights over the Gulf coastal region -- especially for news agencies trying to document the extent of the spill.

Except if the administration were trying to prevent news agencies from documenting the extent of the spill. And, thus, the extent of their incompetence.

What is the administration hiding?


Update: In the comments, GulfCoastBamaFan observes that the GIS (Geographical Information System) data related to the spill is now unavailable:

They also have a gag order on the GIS data for this incident, in direct contradition with NIMS protocol. Here's a letter from the GIS Institute's founder and the guy that set up the GIS servers and systems.

I've been trying in vain for weeks to get up-to-date data after either BP or the Joint Incident Command center in Houma, LA put all the GIS servers behind a firewall. Those data are supposed to be public record, and they will be critical in documenting response efforts.

All I want to do is post an updated map of the slick on my blog's Deepwater Horizon Timeline, using my own GIS application. But I can't get the slick data.

The level of mismanagement, the attempts to deceive, the quarantining of important data, the incompetence is as colossal as the incident itself.

GulfCoastBamaFan later pointed out that the GIS Institute took that letter down. I saved a copy and Google's cache still has a version available.


Related: Obama's Katrina: an Illustrated Timeline.


Hat tip: Pat. Linked by: Gateway Pundit and Jawa Report. Thanks!